Nba Players Association

ARTICLES ABOUT NBA PLAYERS ASSOCIATION BY DATE - PAGE 2

Here's an interesting development in the drug-testing arena. Trail Blazers guard Damon Stoudamire took a drug test for a Portland newspaper columnist last Friday in an attempt to clear his name, the Oregonian reported. As coach Maurice Cheeks held open the bathroom door, Stoudamire urinated in a cup, fulfilling an agreement he made five months ago with columnist John Canzano. "I did it because I have nothing to hide," Stoudamire said. "I didn't know you were going to test me [Friday]

By NBA All-Star edition by Michael Kellams. Edited by the sports staff of RedEye | February 10, 2003

1. MJ's final line One start, 36 minutes, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 20 points. Oh, and one loss. He really was the perfect Bull. 2. Most Valuable Player Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves won the MVP award with a game-high 37 points. He offered to give the trophy to Susan Lucci to make up for all those Daytime Emmy losses. 3. Party foul Indiana's Ron Artest had an altercation with Houston's James Posey at the NBA Players Association party, ESPN.com reported.

On a recent Monday morning in Sioux Falls, S.D., front-office workers for the reborn Continental Basketball Association's Skyforce had their preparations for the weekend's home opener interrupted by a visit from the team's 6-foot-10-inch, 250-pound starting center. The young man shook hands with each staffer, thanking them for the special gift they had presented him two weeks earlier on his 21st birthday. It was back to business after he headed off to practice, but the work somehow seemed less onerous after such a thoughtful visit.

In 36 years of coaching at North Carolina, Dean Smith says there were four players he recruited who were ready to play in the NBA right out of high school. And Michael Jordan wasn't one of them. "James Worthy, Rasheed Wallace, Sam Perkins and Kevin Garnett," Smith said. "They all had size, quickness and skills." Smith was in town last week to promote his new book, "A Coach's Life," at the same time a player's life was in shambles. That player, former King star Leon Smith, has quickly become the biggest and best argument against high school players jumping straight to the NBA. Leon Smith was released from a Dallas psychiatric ward last week after swallowing 250 aspirins in an apparent suicide attempt.

The National Basketball Association reinstated Friday seven referees who had resigned after being charged with federal tax violations. The referees--Hank Armstrong, Joey Crawford, Joe Forte, Jess Kersey, Mike Mathis, George Toliver and Don Vaden--have all been off the NBA officiating staff for at least six months. "This is a time for healing," NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement issued by the league. "Each of the referees has accepted his punishment and expressed genuine remorse for his actions."

You're no Michael Jordan, but then as an actor, Michael isn't you. SUBSTITUTION Instead of getting the Bulls-Knicks game Friday, NBC gave us "It's a Wonderful Life." Even though most people have seen the movie 900 times, we just can't seem to get enough of George Bailey, Clarence and ZuZu's petals. Next up, the sequel: "It's a Wonderful Lockout," featuring a despondent NBA player ready to give it all up because of the work stoppage. Only this time, Clarence doesn't rescue him. RETURN POLICY If Friday is for getting gifts, Saturday is for returning them.

To the General Motors workers who walked off their jobs at the automaker's Flint, Mich., plant over the summer: This is how to have a labor dispute. Take it from the locked-out NBA players. Never mind carrying picket signs to protest unsatisfactory contract terms or rallying the troops at rinky-dink union halls. This is real hardship: playing the slots and blackjack into the night, as the Knicks' Buck Williams and the Bucks' Ray Allen did; or watching the climax of the World Series at the Hard Rock Cafe, as Miami's Dan Majerle did; or browsing the designer shops, as San Antonio's David Robinson did; or brainstorming at luxurious Caesars Palace, as about 200 players did. Amid decadence and opulence, NBA Players Association members met Thursday for an update from their leaders on their impasse with the league, which has led to the cancellation of the entire exhibition schedule and the first two weeks of the regular season.

It was a lockout that brought Michael Jordan back to the NBA. And in the end, it may be another labor disagreement that chases Jordan out of the NBA. That's because NBA owners voted 27-2 Monday to exercise their option to reopen the league's labor agreement that was signed in September 1995. League officials expect to begin negotiations with the NBA Players Association next week. If no satisfactory agreement is reached by July 1, the league could order a lockout of players.

After 37 years in the National Basketball Association as a player, coach and executive, Al Attles was sure he had seen it all. Then came Monday, when one of Attles' own players, Golden State Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell, physically attacked his coach-- twice--and threatened to kill him. "Look, I like `Spree' and get along with him well," said Attles, Golden State's vice president and assistant general manager. "But I didn't have to coach him. Anyone who has ever played the game has gotten upset with their coach.